As if losing to the rival Ottawa Senators 3-0 after two periods wasn’t bad enough, embattled Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf is now out of the game after suffering a lower body injury. Phaneuf was tangled up in the corner with Sens forward Peter Regin when he fell awkwardly to the ice with his legs twisted up beneath him. Phaneuf was helped off the ice to the locker room and now according to John Shannon of Sportsnet, he’s off to the hospital to get checked out.

From boos to worse…Phaneuf leaves ACC on stretcher…left knee iced and heavily bandaged.

The boos that Shannon refers to are the ones coming from Leafs faithful in Toronto as the newly minted captain of the team was hearing their distaste for his play and the current state of the team. After a 4-0-0 start to the season, luck and goal scoring has run dry for the Leafs and they’ve lost five of their last six games and they’re 27th in the NHL in scoring. Phaneuf, meanwhile, has four assists this season and a team low plus/minus rating of -6 and Brian Burke is sick of hearing the fans riding Phaneuf for his play.

The natives in Toronto are restless and the 4-0-0 start may have proven to be almost an unfair tease given that the Leafs weren’t exactly projected to be all that successful. Getting the team’s offense jump started somehow would go a long way towards helping them out, but if Phaneuf is out for an extended amount of time, their defense might become more of a question mark.